Night of the Drumsalogh
by AMVB
Summary: Early Season 2. Ethan Rayne is up to his old tricks. This time he makes Buffy and her friends forget that she is the Slayer. **COMPLETED!**
1. Chapter 1

Night of the Drumsalogh

_Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and related characters and places are the property of Joss __Whedon__, Mutant Enemy and FOX. This story is written purely for fun and no profit is being made from it._

The cafeteria was noisy and crowded. Everywhere the kids of Sunnydale High shouted and talked and laughed. Buffy Summers looked around the cafeteria from her vantage point in the line for what passed as lunch. The choice appeared to be chicken fingers or meatloaf. At least Buffy thought it was meatloaf. If the smell was any indication it probably wasn't fit for human consumption. The chicken looked okay though, and the mashed potatoes seemed reasonably potato-y. Buffy made her way through the line and paid the cashier. She spotted her friends at their usual table and walked over to them. Buffy set her lunch tray at the round cafeteria table. Her friends Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris were there eating-- okay, Willow was eating; Xander was holding his chicken fingers in his hands and making them talk to each other.

"So, Mr. Chicken Finger..." Xander was saying, making the right one bob up and down as he spoke. Now the left, "Yes, Mi..." Xander quickly returned the talking food to his tray as Buffy came over.

"Buffy!" He squeaked and then cleared his throat. "I mean... Buffy. How's it going, Buffy? You look...what are you...chicken finger?" He held out one of the previous players in his chicken finger production.

"You're supposed to stop me when I do that." Xander whispered, leaning close to Willow. Buffy looked at Willow and rolled her eyes. She jerked her thumb in Xander's direction.

"How long has he been like this?"

"Oh, pretty much just since you came over." Willow said it with a grin on her face, but Buffy heard the undercurrent of disappointment in her voice. Willow and Xander had been friends since they were kids and however much Willow might protest, Buffy new she wanted more than that. The rescue from this potentially awkward and uncomfortable situation was ironically provided in the form of Cordelia Chase. Cordelia was the quintessential spoiled rich girl and the last person Buffy would ever have willingly divulged her secret to. But, through a curious twist of fate, they had been thrust together. Cordelia walked toward their table, her mini-me girlfriends in tow.

"Oh, look," she said stopping next to their table. "It's the table of the incredibly lame and socially awkward." Cordelia smiled down at them sweetly as she spoke. The mini-mes giggled behind her. Willow's face turned red and she looked down at her food. She poked at it with her fork and pretended not to notice Cordy and the others. Xander looked like he was going to say something, but words seemed to fail him. Buffy looked up at Cordelia and returned her sweet smile.

"Harsh coming from the herd of the morally ambiguous and intellectually stunted." Cordelia stopped smiling for a moment. Behind her the blond named Harmony looked like she was trying to figure out what was going on. Cordelia quickly recovered her composure and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Whatever." She said. They moved off to their own table. Xander was seething.

"I...nyuh. I had the perfect comeback, I'll have you know. Both sharp and witty." He looked down at the remnants of his lunch. Then he looked back up.

"So, Buffster." He began, "what big scary bad guys you got for us today?" He grinned and stuffed the last of the formerly talking chicken fingers in his mouth. Buffy shrugged.

"Actually it's been pretty dull. I even did homework last night." Willow and Xander both looked at her, feigning shock.

"The world must be ending." Xander said. They all laughed, but Buffy's smile quickly faded.

"It actually has me a little worried. Things are _too_ quiet, you know? Like something's up."

"You talked to Giles?" Willow asked. Rupert Giles was the Sunnydale High School librarian and Buffy's Watcher. He was the book guy. He watched after them, trained Buffy, and had the singularly largest collection of occult books that Buffy had ever seen. Buffy shook her head.

"Nyah. Not yet. If it was something really bad Giles would have told us about it already." Willow held up her hand and pointed. Buffy's gaze followed Willow's finger and she saw Giles hurrying through the door, his tweed jacket slightly rumpled, with a stack of papers in his arms. He reached their table.

"Buffy, thank God." Giles wiggled a hand free and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "You need to come to the library right away. I must talk to you about..." A quelling look from Buffy brought Giles out of his thoughts. "Book fines." He finished.

"Right." Said Buffy. "I'm there." Giles looked to her companions.

"You two may as well come along. Willow, I'm going to need your help on this." Willow was a wiz with research, especially on the Internet, something Giles had never quite gotten up to. The three of them followed Giles out of the cafeteria, their unfinished lunches deserted on the table.


	2. Chapter 2

The students of Sunnydale High were apparently not big readers and the four found the library to be in its usual state of abandon. Buffy sat on the edge of a table.

"So what's the big bad?" She asked, swinging her legs back and forth.

"Have you noticed anything strange recently?" Giles asked. The kids exchanged looks.

"Strange?"Buffy asked. "Like a giant praying mantis disguised as a substitute teacher? Or kids turning into hyenas?". Willow grinned.

"Oo, or cheerleaders getting set on fire?"

"A demon in the Internet?" Xander chimed in.

"Nope. Haven't noticed anything like that. " Buffy said finally. Giles smiled indulgently.

"Very funny." Living on a Hellmouth did tend to provide a larger than normal quota of strange.

"Actually," Buffy said and stopped swinging her legs, "it has been seriously quiet."

"She did homework." Willow added helpfully. Giles seemed on the verge of launching into what Buffy thought of as Giles' favorite part of the job-- the part where he got to tell them who or what was going to destroy the world. Instead he paused.

"Yes, well, that is unprecedented." His mouth turned up slightly at the corners, but his eyes did not smile and Buffy knew whatever was coming next was going to be bad.

"You are right about the quiet, Buffy." Giles said. "Something is stirring in silence. Something very bad." Buffy was almost afraid to ask.

"How bad?" Giles took off his glasses and rubbed them on the edge of his jacket in an habitual nervous gesture.

"I'm not sure." Buffy wasn't sure if that was better or worse then 'the end of the world'. At least with that answer she knew what they were up against.

"I came across several references to a passage that translates to 'From the silence it brings screams, from life it brings death. Calm becomes terror, peace becomes war."

"Vague much?" Buffy said. Giles ignored her.

"Each of these has been linked with another passage." He motioned to the stack of papers he had been carrying, now spread across the table. "They speak of strange portents: a night with no clouds and no stars and a strange, no that's not quite right..." Giles looked at one of the pages. "A bad moon."

"Wait," said Xander, "I know this one. CCR, right?" Buffy and Willow laughed.

"An oldie, but a goodie. Does it bring earthquakes and lightning?" Asked Xander grinning. Giles did not grin, he didn't even smile. Instead he leaned over the table and intently examined one of the books. He lifted it up.

"Oh, no." He said, "Much worse. This one brings the demon Malkhan with it when it comes." He began to read. " 'And on that night when the sky is empty of clouds and stars, the demons will join together to bring about the end of the scourge of man. From amongst them shall arise Malkhan, the one from which no man shall escape.'" Buffy smiled grimly.

"Oh the demony funness. Can't they ever just band together to play Monopoly or something?"

"Yes, well. So far I haven't found out much about how they intended to summon Malkhan, but the portents all lead to it happening soon. Very soon. Willow, I'm going to need you to see what you can get off that...machine." Giles, a man ever devoted to his books, waved a hand in the general direction of the computer.

"I'm your girl." Willow said. She always liked a project, especially if it was a challenge.

"Xander," said Buffy "you hit the books with Giles. I'll see what I can get from around town." Xander nodded.

"Right. Books. Things with words." Giles pushed several across the table in front of Xander.

"I like books..." He sighed and resigned himself to his task.

"Okay, I'll hit the streets and see what I can find out. Meet you back here." Buffy turned and headed for the door.

"Uh, Buff?" It was Willow. Buffy turned.

"What?"

"Uh, what about class?"

"Right. Say I went home sick or something."

"They're gonna want a note."

"Will?" Buffy asked pleadingly.

"Fine." Willow sighed and shook her head. She'd become pretty good at forging Joyce Summer's signature.

"You're the best!" With that Buffy turned away and disappeared through the library doors.

"How come you never write me sick notes, Will?" Xander asked as he watched the doors swing shut behind Buffy..

"'Cause you're not the Slayer."


	3. Chapter 3

Buffy headed across the courtyard of Sunnydale High School and towards the main gate. The bright sun made her squint as she first entered the light. She pulled her sunglasses down from where they had been holding back her hair and put them to a slightly more useful purpose. Buffy passed the large fountain that marked the center of the courtyard and smiled as she remembered playing in fountains as a little kid. She felt the sun beating down on her and she paused a moment to take a breath of the dry California air. Buffy smiled._ I really do live in the perfect place_, she thought. _Demon of the Week welling up from the pits of Hell, aside._ That part was less fun, but hey, she could be slaying vampires some place cold and rainy.

The thought pulled her out of her reverie and she quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching her. Several kids, who doubtless should have been in class, milled around, but otherwise the coast looked clear. No sign of Principal Snyder, which was a good thing. It hadn't been a that long since he had almost expelled her from school. She felt pretty sure he hadn't completely abandoned the idea. As she neared the large gate that marked the entrance to the high school, Buffy paused and took one more look around. The few kids who were about were turned away from her and Buffy could hear them whispering and giggling, occupied with whatever it was they were doing. She squatted down on her heels and pushed up. She landed on the other side of the gate, straightened her legs and walked on.

In a cave just outside of town was exactly what Buffy was looking for. Only Buffy didn't know it was there. The walls of the cave were pocked and wet. A thin film of green slime clung to every surface and made the ground slick. The air carried a sickly stench of an indefinable, yet grotesque quality. In the low basin of the cave, red-robed demons moved ominously around a pentagram. A yellow-green mist swirled from the hot stones in the pentagram on the floor. The demons circled slowly and deliberately around the stones. Each held a long curved knife to the throat of a young woman and chanted.

"Obscurum adveho! Malkhan vadum pario terminus plaga vir. Igne natura renovatur integra" The stones grew brighter with each word. On the final word the knives slashed across the throats of the captives. Their bodies were tossed into the pentagram of glowing stones.

The alley seemed dark to Buffy even in the middle of the day. It was dirty and gloomy. The air felt thick with smoke and the smell of sewage and rotting food. _The perfect spot for a demon hangout_, Buffy thought. _Okay, well the perfect spot would be a cemetery or a sewer, but life's not perfect. _A rusty sign hung haphazardly over a battered wooden door at the end of the alley signaling the presence of a local bar. Buffy put her hand on the doorknob and wrinkled her nose in distaste. She pushed the door open.

Buffy was keenly aware of the hostile looks she received from the bar's clientele as she entered. It seemed the Slayer was not the most welcome of guests. Several demons made comments that Buffy guessed were curses. But the demons, it seemed, were smart enough not to start anything; they kept their seats, if only barely.

Buffy walked over to the bartender, who appeared to feel a sudden need to wash the floor. He was on his hands and knees behind the counter. As Buffy neared he bent his head closer to the floor and scrubbed harder.

"Hi there!" She said cheerily. The bartender bent even lower, if that was possible, and grunted some barely audible and utterly noncommittal sound.

"So..." Buffy propped herself up on the counter. "What's new?"

Buffy met the gang back at the library after school. It looked the same as when she had left, except there were perhaps more books out now. And everybody looked more worn out. Xander was now flopped in the chair he had been sitting in with his head leaned over the back and his eyes closed. Willow was at the computer staring blankly, her eyes looking glazed. Giles was the only one who didn't look like he had been up all night cramming for a chem final. He was in his office with a book in each in hand. He looked up as Buffy came in and smiled.

"Buffy!" At the sound of Giles' voice, Willow turned, squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them. Xander started and nearly fell out of his chair backwards.

"Aah!" Xander jumped to his feet. "Demons ants!" He cried and looked around disoriented. Buffy just stood there looking at him bemused. After a moment he regained his composure.

"Hey Buffy." He sat down again, opened a book, and attempted a look of nonchalance. Giles brought the disordered crew back to order.

"What have you discovered?" He asked Buffy.

"Not much." She said. "It's got the demon world pretty riled up, though. The demons at the bar were pretty scared."

"Scared demons," Xander interjected. "Never a good sign."

"Quite." Giles said.

"Apparently this Malkhan guy is pretty bad news, and the demons involved in summoning him are no chocolate cream pie. Sounds like the bad guys are bringing a new boss to town. Real apocalypse stuff."

"So what do we do?" Willow asked. Buffy looked to Giles.

"Any clue on the timing of this? The best I got was soon...really soon. I'm thinking within the next day or two."

"I know it will be at night." Giles said. "And..."

"Oo," Buffy interrupted, "the bartender said something about the night of the Drums and Logs. Or no, wait, the Drum Alongs."

"The Drumsalogh?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Hmmm..." Giles consulted one of the many books now covering the entire top of the table. Buffy walked over and peered over Giles' shoulder.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Aha!" He said triumphantly. "Here it is. The Night of The Drumsalogh. The night when The Drumsalogh shall arise." Giles looked at the book in distaste.

"Well that's bloody helpful." He said under his breath, which earned smirks from Buffy, Xander, and Willow. Giles picked up another book.

"The Drumsalogh. The mythical saviour of the demon world. It is said that he will arise and give the world to the demons."

"Apocalypse." Buffy said. Giles nodded,

"Yes." He said simply, not knowing what else to say.

"Fortunately now that we know that the demon Malkhan is also The Drumsalogh we should be able to determine how they intend to summon him and figure out a way to stop them."

"Big axe. Slayer. Kill demon." Xander said.

"I don't think that will be enough this time." Giles unfolded a paper on the table. It showed a picture of a demon that according to the scale stood nearly 20 feet high and was covered in large spikes. Its nose and mouth jutted forward like a snout and its enormous teeth stuck out over the sides.

"When did we get stuck in Jurassic Park?" Xander asked.

"I don't want to fight that." Buffy said.

"We need to stop the ritual before they summon Malkhan. It's not going to be easy. A lot of very nasty demons are involved in this."

"According to this," Willow motioned towards the computer monitor "the ritual should take place on the fourth day after this month's full moon at 9pm."

"Aren't these things supposed to happen at midnight?" Xander asked. Everyone else ignored him.

"When was the full moon?" Buffy asked.

"Night before last." Willow said.

"Let's see. Today's Tuesday, so that makes Thursday night the night." Buffy said. "So we find out when this is going down and I make some diced demon."

"There may be too many for you to handle alone." Giles said.

"Well you got 'til nine Thursday to come up with a better plan." Buffy said. "I gotta get home. My mom's going to wig."


	4. Chapter 4

Buffy caught up with Willow and Xander at school the next morning. The two friends were sitting on one of the benches in front of the school and Buffy spotted them as soon as her mom dropped her off. They had their heads bent together and Buffy could see that they were looking at a book, but she couldn't tell what it was. From the exasperated look on Xander's face Buffy guessed that it was probably their math book. Willow was a wiz at that stuff, while Xander lived somewhere in the land of the barely passing.

"Hey guys!" Buffy said as she walked up to them.

"Hey Buffy!" They chorused. Willow closed the textbook that was open between them, eliciting an unrepentant sigh of relief from Xander.

"Anything new?" Buffy asked.

"Nyah." Said Willow. "Well, I was thinking maybe we could do some kind of spell to try and block the summoning, but we don't know enough about the ri...um...the rich and their attitudes on, uh, other rich people." Will shot Buffy a brief apologetic look. Buffy knew from the way Willow was talking that Principal Snyder was behind her, even before he spoke.

"Buffy Summers." He said in the way that always made her feel like she had just been caught robbing a bank.

"Principal Snyder." Buffy returned. Xander stood up and elbowed his way in between his friend and the small rodent-like man confronting her.

"Principal Snyder!" He began, somewhat too jovially. "Isn't it a lovely day?"

"Harris." Snyder said, the words dripping with disdain. "What are you juvenile delinquents up to? Don't you have a class you should be getting to?" Now it was Willow's turn to stand up.

"I was helping them with some math work." Willow squeaked under the principal's icy stare.

"Hmmph." He snorted. "Well get to class. And Rosenberg..." He stopped the students as they were leaving, "you should pick better friends." The students fled. Xander mock-shivered.

"That guy gives me the wiggins." Buffy said by way of agreement with her friend. Willow just clutched her math book.

"So, did you have any luck on the where for this ritual-thing?" Xander asked Buffy. She shook her head.

"No. I think it's back to the streets for me on that one. It's gotta be something pretty nearby though, because..."

Ethan Rayne's laugh was both gleeful and menacing as he dipped his thumb into the bowl on the altar in front of him and smeared the blood across his forehead and down each of his cheeks. The remainder he poured into a large bowl in front of him that contained a number of herbs and the eyes of several unfortunate newts.

"Clear the minds, make blank the thoughts. Strange becomes consciousness and murky becomes reality. One to the next they will not know the true purpose of her soul." The contents of the bowl sparked and burst into purple flames.

Buffy stopped in mid-sentence. She looked at Willow oddly.

"What were we talking about?" She asked. Willow looked equally confused.

"Ummm...I can't remember." She said. They both looked at Xander. He threw his hands up in the air.

"Don't look at me." He protested. "Do I look like I have a clue what's going on?" Buffy and Willow looked at each other.

"No." They both agreed.

"Weird." Buffy said and shrugged. "So, did we have any history homework?"


	5. Chapter 5

Spike was bored. Being a vampire was great, no doubt. He was strong and could do what he pleased when he pleased. Unless, of course, what he pleased was to hunt during the day. _Damn California sun. Who needs it anyway?_ There was something to be said for the vampires in movies and books that spent the day sleeping in their coffins. But real life didn't work that way. _No, _thought Spike_. Instead I'm forced to spend my day underground like a buggering rodent going out of my bloody mind._ He knocked the half-empty bottle of rum he had been drinking from the table.

"Bloody Hell." He said aloud. _Now I don't even have a drink._ Spike picked up a glass from the table where he was sitting and threw it at the wall. It shattered with a satisfying crunch.

His lover, Drusilla, looked up at him from where she sat on the ground nearby.

"So angry," she said. "Always shouting. Scares away the pretties." Spiked looked at her absently. _Daft bird_, he thought, loving her even in her madness. _Angelus really did a number on you._ Angelus was Drusilla's sire, the vampire who had turned her, before he was cursed by Gypsy's and given back his soul. He had driven Dru out of her mind and then made her a vampire. _Now he's Angel. The Slayer's lapdog_, Spike thought with disgust. He turned his attention back to Drusilla. She pressed her palm to the ground and looked up at Spike, her eyes wide.

"Can you hear them, Spike?" Spike looked down at her. She sat on the ground, her hands pressed down into the cold earth.

"What's that, Pet?" He asked. She caressed the ground with her finger tips and rubbed the dirt across her forehead and down her cheeks.

"It's the worms. I can hear them in the Earth. They sing to me."

"Right. What are they saying, Dru?" Drusilla's eyes fell.

"You can't rush them, Spike. If you rush them, they stop singing. You wouldn't want them to stop singing would you? When the singing stops it's all quiet. I can't abide the quiet. I can't..." Drusilla began looking around frantically, alternately groping the ground and holding her head. Spike walked over behind her and put his arm around her.

"There, there, Love." He turned her towards him and kissed her. Dru laughed and kissed him back.

"They have a present for us, Spike. I like presents." This caught Spike's attention and he smiled slyly with her.

"So do I, love." He said. "So do I."

"They wriggle all around me and whisper in my ear. Everybody's happy. Everybody sings. The Slayer doesn't know."

"Doesn't know what, Dru?"

"Doesn't know who she is."

Buffy's eyelids drooped and her elbow slipped of the edge of the desk. She blinked, squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again to try and wake herself. She tried to focus on Mr. Miller, her American History teacher. He was standing in the front of the classroom, pacing slowly back and forth in front of his desk.

"What can anyone tell me about the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty?" Several hands went up, but Mr. Miller's eyes passed over them.

"Buffy?" Buffy looked around the classroom.

"Me?" She asked. Mr. Miller nodded.

"Right." Buffy said. "Hay-Pau...Hay is for horses?" Mr. Miller walked down the aisle towards Buffy's desk.

"Funny, Miss Summers." He leaned forward and put one hand on the back of her chair and the other on her desk. His face was only inches from hers.

"Do you think you are clever, Miss Summers?" Buffy moved her head back away from Mr. Miller. She couldn't speak. She just stared at him and watched as his face became dark. His eyes began to glow red. His teeth grew into fangs as his mouth morphed into a reptilian snout and spikes sprung forth from his skin.

"How clever will you be when you're dead?" His hand, now a claw, reached forward and scratched her cheek. Buffy screamed and grabbed her face.

"Buffy?" Willow was looking at her with concern. In fact the whole class was staring at her. Mr. Miller walked over to her desk. Buffy drew away from him.

"Are you all right Buffy?" He asked.

"I..." Buffy looked around the room. Her eyes wide, she looked at Mr. Miller. She took a deep breath.

"I'm fine. I...I think I got stung by a bee."

"Let me look." Mr. Miller knelt by her desk and moved her hand from where she still held it against her cheek.

"I don't see anything. Why don't you go to the nurse's office." Buffy nodded.

"Thanks. Thanks, I will." She picked up her bag and left the classroom. Willow and Xander anxiously watched her go.

Buffy went to the library instead. She didn't know why, but she felt comfortable there. It seemed familiar and homey, even though she wasn't much of a reader. And she liked Mr. Giles, the librarian.

The library was deserted as usual and Buffy collapsed into one of the chairs, tucking her knees up to her chin and clutching her book bag to her chest. She closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath, but all she could see was the horrible monstrous face.

"Ms. Summers?" Buffy opened her eyes to see Mr. Giles looking down at her with a creased brow.

"Are you all right?" He asked. He lay a hand on her shoulder and she involuntarily pulled away. He pulled his hand back.

"Sorry." He stepped back a little and looked at her. "What happened?" Buffy uncurled herself and looked up at Giles.

"I'm not sure," she said. "I was in history class. I must have fallen asleep. It's nothing. I should really..."

"Here. Let me get you a glass of water." Buffy rubbed her forehead and took the proffered glass from Giles' hand. She sipped the water.

"Thanks." She said.

"Now tell me what happened."


	6. Chapter 6

Buffy sat for quite a while describing her strange dream to Mr. Giles. It made her shiver just to talk about it.

"It felt like more than just a dream." She said when she had finished. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms to try and stop the shivers.

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know. It seemed familiar and something else. I can't quite put my finger on it. Like it was a warning."

"Familiar? Have you had this dream before?"

"No, never. Well, I don't know, but I feel like I should know. You know?"

"No. Not exactly." He looked worried, though he tried to smile assuredly, "I'm sure it was just a bad dream." He said.

"It felt real."

"Dreams often do. I had a dream once like that. I was..." Giles stopped mid-sentence. "Well never mind. I'm sure it's nothing. Perhaps just some anxiety over your history class."

"Yeah." Buffy said unconvincingly, "I'm sure that's it."

Buffy tried to convince herself of that all afternoon, but to little avail. Somehow, she could not shake the feeling that something was very wrong, and worse yet that something terrible was about to happen. She was apparently not alone in this misgiving. Willow burst into through the library doors in a panic, followed closely by Xander who was trying to calm her down.

"Buffy!" Willow cried. "Do you know what's happened?" Buffy jumped up from where she was seated at the table and ran over to her best friend.

"Willow! What's the matter?" Xander rolled his eyes.

"Nothing. She's crazy." Buffy, still unable to shake the vision of her United States History teacher turning into a monster, was not sure she was able to make comment about the state of anyone's mental health.

"No. No." Willow was saying, "look at this." She held a paper out in her hand and waved it around wildly. Buffy grabbed hold of it and pulled it away from Willow. It was an essay they had written for their English class on the theme of injustice in _Jane Eyre_. On the top written in red ink was "Nice. A-".

"Do you see that?"

"What, Will?"

"That!" Willow said pointing at the grade.

"You got an A, Will." Xander said.

"Minus. A _minus_. Can you believe that?"

"It's not the end of the world." Willow was starting to calm down. She took the paper back and put it back in her bookbag.

"I guess not." She said glumly. "But it spoils my perfect A average." Xander pulled out his essay.

"I am proud to say my D+ average remains happily unblemished." Now that Willow was calmed down from her academic crisis she turned to Buffy with concern.

"Hey, how are you? We were worried about you after history class. What happened to you?" Buffy sat down uncertainly on the edge of table.

"It was the weirdest thing, you guys. I had this dream. Mr. Miller turned into this monster. I know it sounds crazy, but it felt real."

"It's just a bad dream." Xander reassured her. "Course if you need a comforting embrace..." Xander opened his arms wide and grinned. Willow shoved him. Buffy didn't move.

"That's what Mr. Giles said." They looked at her oddly and she laughed a little. "The dream part, not the hugging part."

"That's good." Said Willow. "'Cause...weird."

"The thing is," said Buffy "I think there's more to it than that. This felt real. Really real and familiar. I think it was trying to tell me something."

"Ooo," said Xander. "Maybe Mr. Miller is really turning into a big ugly demon. Maybe he's going to eat all his students. We better not go to history class anymore. Geee...I'm really broken up about that."

"Shut up, Xander." Willow said. "It could be a metaphor. Are you worried about Mr. Miller calling on you in class?" Buffy shrugged.

"I guess." She said. Then she looked at Xander.

"Wait, what did you say?"

"Sorry, Buffy. I was just kidding. I didn't mean..."

"Shut up Xander." Said Buffy. "You said demon." Xander looked at her strangely and shook his head.

"So..." he said, slowly regaining his usual exuberance, "are we Bronzing it tonight? Puttin' on the boogie shoes?"

"Definitely." Said Willow cheerily.

"Oh." Buffy looked at her friends absently. "Yeah."


	7. Chapter 7

Buffy barely made it to The Bronze. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts about her dream and demons that she had hardly said a word to her mom all during dinner. She'd hardly eaten either, which convinced Joyce that Buffy must be coming down with something. Fortunately, Buffy was able to convince her mom that she was just tired from too much school and a night out with her friends would help.

Unfortunately, the night out wasn't helping. Buffy was still engrossed in her nightmarish afternoon. The word _demon_ kept coming back to her. _Demon.__Demon.__ Dem_...

"Buffy!" Xander's voice cut through her thoughts. "Earth to Buffy! You alright there? Your mind hasn't been sucked out by the math teacher or anything, has it?" Willow made an angry face at Xander and pushed in between him and Buffy.

"Ignore him." She said. Buffy smiled.

"I frequently do."

"So..." Willow began tentatively, "not to join the Xander-wagon here, but you do seem a little Tell-Tale Heart." Buffy looked at Willow.

"You think I killed someone and hid the body under the floorboards?"

"I just meant you seem a little preoccupied."

"I can't stop thinking about that dream. I think Xander was right. I think it was a demon."

"Okay, Buffy." Xander said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I appreciate the whole vote of confidence thing, but listen. There are no such things as fairies or leprechauns or Bigfoot or demons. It's. Not. Real."

"I know. I mean my mind knows. But I can't shake the feeling that it is real and that I need to do something about it." She paused at her friends' skeptical looks. "The demon part, not the other part."

"Sure," said Xander. "She believes in demons but scoffs at fairies and leprechauns."

"Forget it." Buffy stood and grabbed her bag.

"Wait, Buffy." Xander grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry." He said.

"Me too." Added Willow. Buffy sat down.

"Look. I know it sounds like I've embraced my inner cashew, but I swear what I saw was real. Freaky and bizarre, but real."

"Okay. Then we've got to figure out what to do about it." Xander said.

"Really?" Buffy asked.

"What are friends for?"

Every spare minute away from class (and some during class) was spent discussing the situation, yet by the end of the day they had no more answers than they started out with. After their last class, the trio headed to the library.

"Round robin." Said Willow. It was a technique commonly used to escape watchful parental eyes and attend parties by telling each other's parents they were staying at the other person's house. It was somewhat less commonly used as a cover for demon investigation. After each parent had been informed of an all-night study session at a different house, Buffy, Xander and Willow were ready for an all-night study session in the school library. _Could they stay all night in the school library? _Buffy wondered somewhat absently. It seemed like the right choice for research. _Surely the library must have some books on demons_, she thought doubtfully. They sat down at one of the large rectangular tables.

"Okay," said Buffy. "What do we know?"

"Well. We know what you saw in your dream. So, I guess we know what it looks like, right?" Willow asked.

"Okay. Let's start there. If we could find a picture of it, maybe..." Buffy trailed off as she looked around the library and her friends dubious expressions. She slumped down in her chair and put her head on her hands.

"Right. Where am I going to look? The Encyclopedia Demonica?" Xander put his arm awkwardly around her and patted her shoulder.

"An excellent suggestion." The voice from behind them brought Buffy's head up so fast she gave herself a headache. Mr. Giles was standing in his office door with a book in his hand. He hurried over to them and began explaining himself, somewhat hurriedly and apologetically, before Buffy and the others had recovered enough to speak.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Terribly rude, I'm sorry. I heard the voices. It's rather unusual for students to come in after school hours, or really during school hours, or...well it's not important. The point is, I overheard you and I think I may be able to help." Buffy managed to squeak out something close to "okay". The others sat there gapping at the librarian rattling on, still holding the large book in his hand.

"I had been thinking about your dream since you came in here the other day. It seemed wildly unplausible and yet," Giles paused for a moment, "somehow familiar." Buffy hit Xander on the arm and motioned towards Giles in a "see-I-told-you-so" way. Giles shot her an all too familiar "knock it off" look and she focused her attention back on him.

"Then, as I was in my office today, I remembered something. About darkness and evil. About demons."

"So it was a demon?" Willow asked. Giles nodded, slowly.

"I'm afraid so." He set his book down with a resounding thud. Buffy noticed wryly that it was entitled "The Encyclopedia Demonica".

"So. We have this book, which, why do we have this book?" Buffy looked up curiously at Giles. Giles furrowed his brow and frowned slightly.

"I'm not sure exactly." He said. "It's not the only one. There are dozens. Some in my office, separated from the rest of the books."

"So you're like the demon go-to guy." Xander said.

"I suppose." Giles acquiesced. "The strange thing is that feels somehow right. I know something. I'm just not sure what it is I know."

"That's how I've been feeling ever since this started." Buffy said. "It's like all this bizarro stuff that is going on is perfectly normal and the only thing wrong is us."

"Whoa. Hold on. Let's back up the normal train here." Xander said. " Nothing about this is normal. We have a history teacher who may or may not be turning into a demon and we are sitting in the library with a demon encyclopedia actually entertaining the idea that this somehow doesn't make us all a bunch of crazy people."

"Ummm...guys?" The others had almost forgotten about Willow. While they talked, she had been looking at the encyclopedia. Now she had it open and was pushing it across the table for the others to look at. Buffy pulled the book in front of her and looked down to where Willow had it open. The image indelibly carved into Buffy's mind now looked up at her from the pages of the Encyclopedia Demonica. It was the face of...Buffy looked at the caption...the demon Malkhan. She shivered. The last doubting voice was snubbed. There could be no more doubts. What she saw was real. And it was a warning.


	8. Chapter 8

The air danced around Ethan with an electric current, sparkling with the promise of delicious death. The Slayer and all her little friends would be completely vulnerable, utterly unaware of the evil around them. He smiled in satisfaction and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Not knowing who Buffy really is, they would be afraid of the demons and unprepared to fight them. It was a sweetness that was almost palpable. And his timing was, if he did say so himself, impeccable. The Slayer would be bewildered and defenseless while the demon world joined together to raise Malkhan and destroy mankind.

At this particular moment, it seemed to slip Ethan's mind that this included him. He was caught up in the delectability of the moment, relishing in the chaos. The only question now was where to go for the best possible view of the carnage without actually becoming part of it. On the whole, Ethan preferred his chaos from a safe distance. But not too safe. Ethan knew it was a failure of his, but he couldn't help it. He liked to watch. After all, what was the good of chaos if you weren't around to enjoy it? It had gotten him in trouble before, but maybe that was the price of chaos. At any rate, Ethan judged that this opportunity was too precious to pass up. Perhaps, he thought, he would just go keep an eye on the Slayer. A delighted smirk flickered across Ethan's face as the perfect arrangement formed in his mind. A way to watch the Slayer, and thus the chaos his spell would wreak, while at the same time keeping his distance. He gathered the necessary ingredients from around the room and sat before his cauldron. He began to chant. A leaf torn from the motherwort and cast into the cauldron punctuated each word.

Smoke and light rose up from the cauldron and filled the air over Ethan's head. He watched as it slowly formed into a picture. At first hazy, the picture grew clearer until it was almost like being there. Ethan smiled as he looked upon the Slayer and her little friends. They sat in the library looking at books. Ethan was impressed that they had figured out enough to even look something up, but he smiled nonetheless.

"Look all you want." He said to the image that hovered above him. "You won't be able to stop it."

Spike did not share Ethan's enthusiasm for the end of the world. Spike liked the world. He liked to live in it or, more accurately, be undead in it. But most importantly, Spike liked like to play in it. He saw the world as his own personal playground, the people who inhabit it as his own little bobbles to be toyed with, tossed aside, tortured, turned or eaten as he saw fit. The end of the world seemed to Spike a remarkable waste of such a repository of entertainment. No, he had other plans for the world. And for the Slayer. Plans he found to be far more…interesting. Ethan's plan had done one thing for Spike. It had made the Slayer vulnerable. It was an opportunity Spike could not resist. But first he had to do something that put him at odds with the demon world. Spike smiled slightly to himself.

"Bloody hell," he muttered. "I'm going to save the world." Unfortunately for Spike, he had no idea how to accomplish such a task. He didn't have nearly enough of the demon world on his side to simply attack the demons and stop the ritual. Besides, starting a demonic civil war seemed about as much fun to Spike as ending the world. Maybe a little less so; at least with the end of the world he wouldn't have to deal with any of it. No, a direct assault wouldn't work. He needed a mystical way to stop the ritual. There had to be something. There always was.

Spike had sent one of his lackeys as a spy to the cave where the ritual was taking place, but the vampire had been gone so long Spike was starting to suspect that he would not return. _The moron probably went out in the sun and set himself on fire_, Spike thought. _That's why I should just do things myself. Bloody amateurs!_ Just as Spike had almost reached the decision to take care of the job himself, a grimy looking vampire ran into the room with a wide grin on his face. Spike rolled his eyes in disgust at the vampire before him.

"You reek. What is that?" Spike said noting the slime all over the vampire's clothes. "Also, stop grinning. You look like an idiot." The other vampire's face dropped. He stood there looking down at his shoes.

"Well?" Spike asked impatiently. "Are you waiting for a royal bloody invitation? What did you find out?"

"Oh, right. So I found out how to stop the ritual." The vampire paused and looked at Spike expectantly.

"And…?" The other vampire continued hurriedly.

"You have to drain the blood of a human into the pentagram as a sacrifice." Spike smiled.

"Now _that_ I like. And I have just the girl in mind." Spike looked at the grimy vampire who had brought him this news and walked over next to him. "Good job." The other vampire looked up at Spike with delight at the rare compliment. Spike snapped his neck.

"Moron."

Buffy stared at the picture of Malkhan. She felt utterly paralyzed by the sight of the creature. It was horrifying and the memory of her dream was horrifying, but nothing of that compared with the certainty Buffy felt of what was to come. She stared at the picture, fear gnawing at her like a ravenous dog. Every part of her mind told her that this was insane, that it couldn't happen, that it wasn't real. But every part of her body stood ready to fight. Buffy laughed at the absurdity of the situation, earning her concerned looks from her friends, as that realization hit her full on. Even as she told herself that this could not be, she prepared for a fight. Her mind told her that if this was real, the answer was to run. It was beyond madness to think that she could fight such a creature. Yet, logical or not, Buffy could feel her muscles tensing with the readiness for a fight.

Buffy felt a hand on her shoulder and realized that she had been staring at the picture in the book for a long time. She looked over her shoulder to see Mr. Giles looking at her with concern. Willow and Xander were standing nearby looking on with equal disquiet.

"Buffy? Are you alright?" Willow asked.

"The picture doesn't have any kind of powers does it?" Xander asked, pulling his hand away with sudden alacrity from the book in question. Giles looked at the boy with annoyance.

"Don't be a stupid git." He said. Xander moved his hand back over, shrugging his shoulders sheepishly. He reached out gingerly and touched the book as though still not sure it didn't possess some sort of entrancing power.

"No, it's alright Xander." Buffy said assuredly. "I was just thinking about where we go from here." Xander's hand shot up.

"I can help on that one. How about really _really_ far from here. Like Alaska or Brazil or one of those little islands in the south Pacific that nobody's ever heard of."

"We can't just run away." Buffy said.

"It's either stay and get eaten or run away and don't get eaten. Now who's for the run away plan?" Xander asked and raised his hand. Willow, somewhat shyly, raised her hand as well.

"We have to stay." Buffy said.

"You do remember the part where we end up getting eaten, right?" Xander asked.

"You're right." Buffy said. Xander looked at her with surprise.

"Really?" He asked. Buffy nodded.

"You all should go. I'll stay here and fight that thing."

"Buffy! You're insane. What do you possibly hope to accomplish? There's no way that you can fight that thing. You should know that better than anyone."

"Xander's right, you know." Giles said.

"Look! I have to stay." Buffy shouted before slumping down into a chair. Her voice quieted. "I can't explain it. I just know I have to."

"She's right. We have to stay." Willow spoke up softly. Xander turned to her and started to speak, but Willow held up her hand. "I'm as much for the not getting eaten plan as the next person. Really, I'm all about the not getting eaten, but we're the only ones who know about this, right?" The others nodded. "So if we leave, what will happen to everybody else?" The question was left with no response, but the silence spoke volumes. In that silence they had all decided to stay, not knowing what they would do, whatever the outcome.


	9. Chapter 9

The Scoobies were not the only ones not getting any sleep that night. In the slime-covered cave just outside of town others were busy as well. The ceremony to raise the Drumsalogh had been ongoing since the full moon four days ago. Each night more rituals had been performed, more spells had been chanted, and the blood of more sacrifices had been spilt. Tonight all that would come to an end as the demon Malkhan, the Drumsalogh, the Savior of the Demon world, would break forth from the earth and cleanse it. No more would the interloper walk the earth. It would again belong to the rightful owners, to those who had been forced to live below. Tonight Malkhan would rid the world of the Slayer and the rest of mankind. Tonight the earth would again belong to the demons.

This was not a sight to be missed by any demon. They had come from far and wide to witness this historic night. Demons that ordinarily would have killed each other on sight stood next to one another, waiting with a common purpose. The air was heavy from the crowd and thick with anticipation. As time moved forward to the hour they were all waiting for the crowd grew larger and larger. The chanting grew more ominous. It was seven o'clock. In two hours time the demon Malkhan would arise.

The fact that it was seven o'clock meant nothing to Buffy or the others, except that it was time to send Xander for food and lots of caffeine. The night, it seemed, was to be a long one. Buffy sighed and rubbed her head. She had the type of headache that only came from staring too long at things that didn't make any sense. She supposed they were making some progress. They had managed to gather all the texts on Malkhan. That had been the better part of an hour ago. Since then, Buffy had been reading and re-reading pages and pages of text. The passages, she quickly discovered, tended toward the vague and cryptic. Buffy shoved the book in front of her. It slid off the edge of the table and hit the floor with a resounding thud. Buffy looked quickly to Giles, expecting a reproof from the librarian, but he gave her none. He simply walked over to the table, picked the book up off the floor, and returned it to the table.

"Sorry," Buffy apologized. "It's just frustrating. We're no further along than we were when we started. We know that Malkhan is a big bad demon that is supposed to be very old and very powerful and that he is supposed to kill a bunch of people. Yippee!"

"But we know it from a lot of different sources." Xander added with as much cheer as he could muster as he returned with pizza and soda. "And we have pizza." Buffy smiled at her friend, although she didn't feel happy at all. She grabbed a piece of cheese pizza. Willow and Giles joined them and they pushed the pile of books aside in order to eat. Xander looked at the pile with disgust.

"Stupid books," he said. "See, this is why I don't like books. They make everything all difficult. They just say the same stupid cryptic thing over and over again. No simple search words, you know type it in, BAM answer. No, you just gotta read all the pages, flip through…" Xander stopped as Willow jumped up from the table and hurried over to the computer.

"What's up, Will?" Buffy asked.

"I have an idea. Xander said 'search words' and it got me thinking." Xander walked over to them with interest.

"I said something good? Go me, solvin' the problem. Oh yeah." He smiled proudly. "So, what are you doing?"

"Well, I'm thinking that if there are all these books on demons and stuff in the library and in Mr. Giles' office, then maybe there would be stuff on the computer too. I'm looking to see if there are any sites bookmarked and what the latest searches on here were." Willow clicked on a couple of tabs.

"Hey! Hey, hey!" Willow grinned and looked at her friends. "Look at this." She said. The others leaned over her shoulder to take a better look. On the screen they saw information about some kind of ritual.

"What's it for, Will?" Buffy asked.

"Raising something called the Drumsalogh. It's supposed to be some kind of demon that is supposed to rid the world of humans. Nice."

"Do you think that is what this Malkhan is?" They looked to Giles. He took his glasses off and rubbed them on the hem of his jacket.

"Um, it's hard to say, but it would make sense." He peered closer to the computer screen. "Yes, I think that must be it." He said.

"Okay," Buffy said. "So what does it say about it."

"It says that it is supposed to take place on the fourth night after the full moon at 9pm. That's an odd time." Willow commented.

"The full moon was Monday. So…bugger." Giles finished. The reality of what that meant began to sink in.

"That's less than an hour and half from now." Buffy said, "We need a plan." The group exchanged worried glances.

"Xander's plan to run maybe the most sensible." Giles said. "We know what we are up against now and it doesn't make things any easier. We have no way to defeat this creature."

"But we can still try to stop it from rising, right?" Buffy asked. Giles looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Yes, that's true. Alright, we have to stop the ritual from taking place." Giles paced back and forth to help himself think. "Right. How do we do that?"

The Scoobies returned to their search for an answer with a fervor renewed by a distinct desire to avoid the imminent death that lurked before them and before the world should they fail to find one.


	10. Chapter 10

The past hour's research had been fruitful and the Scoobies' spirits were lifted slightly, though the thought of their impending doom had not completely left their minds. Willow's discovery that the demon Malkhan was the Drumsalogh had been a great help in leading the gang to more helpful resources. Willow and Giles were engrossed in learning about the ritual to raise Malkhan and figuring out a way to stop it. Buffy and Xander were equally engrossed in a far more disturbing task—figuring how to kill the demon should they fail to stop the ritual in time. It was a possibility none of them particularly wanted to consider, but all knew they had to. There was only one more hour left to stop the ritual or the demon Malkhan would arise. Buffy's headache was starting to return. Everywhere she and Xander looked, the answer was the same. To kill Malkhan, you have to cut out the demon's still beating heart. Buffy shared an exasperated look with Xander.

"So, that's pretty much a 'no', right?" He asked, his cracking voice belying his calm. Buffy nodded to her friend and reached out her hand to him. He squeezed it. They both took deep breaths. Hopefully Willow and Mr. Giles were doing better.

"Oh, God." Willow's voice was filled with fear and sadness. Apparently, things were not going better with Willow and Mr. Giles. Buffy and Xander turned to look at them.

"What's wrong, Will?" Buffy asked. Willow turned to look at her friend, her faced was creased with worry.

"There are already dead people." She said, "Dead girls. They killed them. Days ago. For…for the ritual. They needed their blood." Buffy stood and walked over to her friend. She laid her hand on Willow's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Will." She said. Xander came and stood behind Willow placing his hand on her other shoulder.

"Does it say where they were killed?" Willow shook herself a little.

"Ummm…yeah…let me look here. In the woods near a cave, just south of town."

"At least that gives us an idea of where to look."

"Oh, God." This time the voice was Giles'. They turned to him.

"What is it?" Giles looked up at them and took off his glasses. He pushed his fingers against the bridge of his nose.

"I figured out how to stop the ritual."

"Umm…" Buffy, Willow, and Xander looked at each other and back to Giles in confusion.

"That's a good thing, right?" Xander asked. Giles replaced his glasses.

"Well, yes, but it's the _way_ the ritual is stopped that's the problem."

"Does it in anyway involve ripping the still beating heart out of the chest of an enormous demon? 'Cause I'm all for avoiding that." Xander said. Buffy nodded her agreement.

"Um, no. It involves draining the blood of a willing sacrifice at the precise moment the demon is supposed to arise."

"Oh." Was all they could manage in response. Draining the blood of a willing sacrifice. Suddenly, ripping the heart out of a demon seemed like the preferable option. That option almost certainly meant death, but the first option made death a guarantee. It didn't seem like much of a choice.

"There has to be another option." Buffy said. She looked at the faces around her, hoping to find a glimmer of hope, but there was none. "There has to be." She repeated, but the words held no conviction.

"There isn't, Buffy." Giles said. "I've looked through all the books. That is the only way to stop the ritual. I'm sorry."

"We're gonna die. Aren't we?" Willow spoke with a small voice that shook, even as she fought to get it under control. Buffy looked at her friend, trying so hard to be brave. Her jaw tightened.

"No." She said. "We're not going to die." Buffy paused for a moment. "At least not all of us." She finished. It took a moment for the others to realize what it was Buffy was really saying. When the realization hit them, it hit them like a ton of bricks.

"No!"

"Buffy you can't!"

"That's completely insane!"

"You'll die." They all spoke at once. Buffy closed her eyes and tried not to listen to them. Her mouth was dry and her heart pounded in her chest. _Stop_, she thought. _Please, stop. Just let me do this before I change my mind_._ Stop._

"Stop!" Buffy yelled. The others quieted. "Stop. Please." She begged them. For a moment they were all quiet. Then Giles spoke.

"Buffy," he said softly, laying a hand on her shoulder, "I appreciate what it is you are trying to do, but there's another problem." _Of course there was_, Buffy thought.

"What is it?" She asked.

"The sacrifice has to be made at the precise moment that Malkhan is to arise or it won't work." Giles paused as though this was supposed to explain everything. Seeing that Buffy had not yet caught up, he continued. "This is a huge moment for the demon world. They are going to want to witness it…" Giles trailed off, unable to bring the thought to its inevitable conclusion. When Buffy closed her eyes and sat down, Giles knew he didn't have to. Xander was a little slower on the uptake.

"Wait? What's going on?" He asked.

"We have to get Buffy through the other demons first." Willow explained. The group sat in silence as the choices played out in their minds: death or death.

Even without especially good choices, the Scoobies' progress in figuring out how to defeat Malkhan might have been enough to get Ethan to start rethinking his plan, if Ethan had still been watching them. A lover of chaos, Ethan Rayne was not the most patient of men. The image that now danced in the smoke before his eyes was no longer that of the Sunnydale High School library. It was now an image of dozens of demons rallying around a pentagram of blood-soaked stones, waiting for the moment when their savior would arise. The magicks that danced through Ethan's smoky window into their world crackled and surged as each moment brought mankind closer to its end. With each surge, Ethan's excitement grew until he could practically taste the chaos. He laughed in gleeful anticipation of witnessing an amazing act of chaos no other man would ever witness. In less than one hour's time, order would be torn from the world and chaos released upon it. And there would be no one able to stop it.

"Does everyone know what they are supposed to do?" Buffy asked. The others nodded. The gang was gathered around the library table trying to hash out the details of a plan that would almost certainly result in their demise. They had agreed to try and stop the ritual first. That way if they failed they would have another chance at stopping Malkhan by killing him. They knew the odds were slim at best and that in all likelihood that had no chance at all, but they were all keenly aware of the weight of the world that rested on their shoulders. To runaway and do nothing would result not only in their eventual deaths, but in the destruction of all mankind. Even if they somehow survived, that was something none of them would be able to live with.

"Good. We need weapons. Any ideas?" Giles nodded and hurried from the table. He returned from the book cage with an arm full of various weapons. The others looked on in disbelief at the array of swords, knives, bows, and axes.

"These were in there." Giles offered. "It looks like we may have done this before." Somehow the thought was not comforting. Carrying a sword into this battle seemed a little like carrying a paperclip into a fight with a bear. Personally, Buffy was hoping for something a little more like a rocket launcher. That, it seemed, was not to be.



"Alright, folks," Xander said, reaching for an axe. "Step right up and pick your very own medieval instrument of death." Willow grabbed a bow and Giles and Buffy each took a sword. Buffy lifted it up in her hand and swung it. The weapon felt oddly comfortable in her hand. At least that was a good sign, she supposed.

Buffy looked around her slowly at the faces of her friends and at Mr. Giles. It was surreal. The events of the past few days seemed to have swirled by in an instant, yet each moment seemed to continue for an eternity. A day ago she could not have imagined being here, considering this insanity. And yet she had seen the face of Hell and she could not turn away from it. She took a long, deep breath and spoke to the others, the strange familiarity of the steel in her hand giving her strength.

"There comes a point in everyone's life" she began, "when they have to choose who they are going to be. To stand up and say 'today I will push past the confines of the ordinary. Today I will be extraordinary.' If we go now, if we do this, we don't come back." Buffy paused a moment as that last sank in. "What do you say?" She asked, but she saw from their faces that they would not turn back either.

"Let's be heroes." Xander said.

"I'm in," said Willow. Giles simply nodded.

"Oh, God." A voice from the door startled them and they turned to see Cordelia standing there. "Is the world going to end again?"


	11. Chapter 11

It seemed that they stood for an eternity, the group staring at Cordelia. In reality they only stood gaping at Cordelia for a few moments. Their shock made it seem longer. Cordelia stood and stared back at them. Her face scrunched up in confusion at the blank stares that greeted her.

"What?" She asked. "Do I have something on me?" She asked quickly looking over her clothes.

"Cordelia," Buffy began slowly, "what are you talking about?" A look of relief washed over Cordy's face. She smiled.

"Oh, good. So there's no big ugly creature that's decided to come ruin my plans by destroying the world?" The others turned away from Cordelia slightly, somewhat embarrassed.

"Actually…" Willow's voice trailed off.

"Well what's your deal then? Buffy's going to kill it right?" The others gaped at her again.

"What? WHAT?" Giles cleared his throat.

"How do you know about what's going on, Cordelia?" He asked.

"I don't know what's going on Giles." Cordelia said, speaking very slowly as though they were all stupid. "That's what I'm trying to find out. What's wrong with you guys?" Xander looked at Cordy as though she were some kind of strange alien object.

"How come you're not totally wigging out right now?" Xander poked Cordelia in the arm as though not sure if she were real. She slapped his hand.

"What is your damage? Is this another thing where nobody remembers who they are?" She turned to Buffy. "You are Buffy Summers. Yes, your name is really Buffy. I'm sure that's hard for you to believe. If I could change it I…"

"CORDELIA!" Buffy interrupted her. "I know who I am."

"Oh." Cordelia smiled, her face clearing in an expression of clarity for an instant before clouding again. "I don't get it." She said.



"Wait a minute." The voice was Giles'. "Maybe Cordelia's right. At least in a way." Giles didn't have time to explain in what way Cordy was right. The door of the library burst open. Several people pushed through the opening.

"Alright, get the others!" A voice from just outside the door commanded. "Nobody touch the Slayer. She's mine." The other people already in the library burst into action. They moved quickly towards Xander, Willow, Giles and Cordelia. Their faces morphed and distorted. Willow stood in blind terror as she was grabbed by what, she realized, could only be a vampire. Xander watched in awe as the one approaching him morphed.

"Woah. Cool." The vampire ran towards him and growled, baring her fangs. Xander took a couple of stumbling steps backwards before he turned to run. "Not cool. Really not cool."

Cordelia seemed the only one nonplussed by the situation. "What's wrong with you guys?" She grabbed a book of the counter near her to beat off the approaching vampire. "Help me!" She cried. Giles followed Cordy's example and grabbed a book. He paused a moment and looked at the book almost apologetically before smashing it into the side of the vampire's head. At Cordelia's cry, Buffy recovered from her initial shock and realized that she had instinctively taken up a fighting stance. _Instinctively from what_? She wondered somewhere in the back of her mind. She pushed the thought aside. It didn't matter right now. She looked around at her friends, all of whom were now being held by the vampires. She saw Cordelia squirm and try to hit the vampire holding her. Her captor grabbed her by her neck and opened his mouth. Buffy was sure he was about to bite Cordelia when another figure entered the room.

"STOP!" The new arrival commanded and Buffy recognized the voice as the one who had been giving commands earlier. The man—vampire—looked familiar to Buffy, but somehow she couldn't place him. She felt like she was being sucked into a fog whenever she tried to place his face. The harder she tried, the more the fog sucked her in. Thankfully, the other vampires did not appear too keen to disobey orders. They stopped, holding their prisoners firmly by the shoulders. The vampire in charge walked slowly towards Buffy, a small smile playing on his face. He stopped in front of her.

"Hello, Slayer." He looked Buffy up and down and laughed at her standing still in a defensive stance. "Why so tense, love?" Buffy ground her teeth, but said nothing. Her mind raced trying to make sense of the situation and squelch the fear that was rising in her throat.

"Who are you? What do you want?" She managed to spit out. Spike smiled at her and traced a finger down the line of her jaw.

"I almost forgot. Somebody doesn't know who she is. Well, love, I'm Spike and as for what I want, that would be you. Turns out I have a need for a little bit of your blood. And by a little, I mean all of it." Buffy stared in horror at Spike. What did he mean she doesn't know who she is? _Why does everybody keep saying that?_ Spike turned and flicked a hand in the direction of 

one of his lackeys.

"Bring them." He said.


	12. Chapter 12

The Scoobies were manhandled by their vampire captors through the dark deserted streets of Sunnydale and into the woods. Buffy had the vague sense that she should fight, but they were out numbered and her head still felt in a fog. _What is wrong with me_? She wondered. It was like being stuck in quicksand. The more she struggled to make sense of everything, the more she sank into the mire of unknowing. Buffy pushed her thoughts down and forced herself to focus on the real situation at hand. In less than an hour the demon Malkhan would be summoned and all human life on the earth would be annihilated. Somehow she had to get away. One way or another, she figured, she was bound to die tonight. She just wanted to make sure her death meant something. To die at the hands of a bunch of vampires when her death could save the world was something too great for Buffy to bear. She would just have to be alert and make her break whenever she could.

The group halted and Buffy tensed, wondering if this would be her last opportunity to make a break for it. She was so intent on her escape plans that it took her a moment to realize where they were. She gasped as she realized that she stood in the woods, near a cave, just south of town. This is where those girls had been killed. Buffy heard chanting from inside the cave and realized that she had to run in, not away, if she was to save the world. The thought made her stomach knot in terror, but she had made up her mind and she would not let her death, and the likely deaths of her friends, be part of the destruction on mankind. As she was about the make her break toward the cave, Spike spoke.

"Well, Slayer. Here we are. Time to save the world." Buffy stopped short, her fear leaving her in a moment of complete shock.

"Huh?"

"Put as eloquently as ever, Slayer."

"My God!" Giles exclaimed, coming to the full realization of what was going on. "You're here to stop it."

"And points to the Watcher. That's right. The big mighty heroes, out to save their pathetic existence. Well, I'm going to do you a favor. I'm going to save your sad little race. All, but one. You," he pointed to Buffy, "you I kill."

"It won't work." Giles said.

"If you stop me, your whole race will be destroyed."

"That's not what I mean. Your plan won't work. It has to be a willing sacrifice."



"Bloody hell." Spike muttered.

"Looks like the heroes are going to save the day again."

"What's going on?" Cordelia asked.

"It looks like everybody's favorite Slayer is going to off herself in the name of humanity. Really, Slayer, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Wait, Buffy's going to kill herself?" Cordelia asked. "Not that I really care or anything, but who decided that was a good plan?"

"It's the only way, Cordelia."

"Have you gone completely insane!? You're the Slayer. Demon-killer. Vampire-hunter. Any of this ringing a bell? The world is about to end, we're in the clutches of Spike's ragtag band of slacker vampires, and you're having an identity crisis. Kick his sorry ass and let's move on!" Willow and Xander had been watching in silence with a mix of fascination and horror. Now they stared at each other in utter disbelief. Buffy shared their confusion.

"What are you talking about?" She asked Cordelia, before turning to address Spike. "And why do you keep calling me Slayer? What's a slayer? What's going on?" Spike clenched his fists and shook them in exasperation.

"You really do know how to drive a bloke daft, don't you Slayer. You're the Slayer. You kill vampires and demons and all the other little nasties that go bump in the night, okay? Are we all clear on that now? You got your pretty little memories all taken away by a very bad bloke and now the world's going to be an all-you-can-eat demon buffet unless you be a good little girl and go sacrifice yourself. So can we get on with it please? The ritual's almost over."

"I'll go, because I'm not going to let a bunch of low-life scum like you have this world. But there's just one more thing I want to do before I die." Buffy took a step forward and punched Spike squarely in the nose. He's head snapped back and he cried out in pain. A very different sensation went through Buffy. It was power. The strength that she felt surging through her in that punch was more than normal strength. Spike's crew surged to his rescue, but he put up a hand to stop them.

"I'm fine." He growled. "Okay, Slayer, go on then." A smile played on Buffy's lips as a new idea formed in her head.



"Cordelia, you weren't affected by whatever happened to the rest of us, right?"

"Right."

"So you have all your memories about me being this slayer or whatever?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So…do I have any kind of special slayer powers or anything?" Spike interrupted with an exasperated sigh.

"Clock's ticking, Slayer. The longer you and your mates stand around chatting about the good old times, the closer we all get to the end of the world." Buffy ignored him.

"Cordy?"

"Well, you're like super strong and stuff."

"Good." Buffy lunged at Spike and caught him around the throat. "New plan." This time the other vampires did not hold back. They released their prisoners and set upon the Slayer. Buffy swung Spike into one of the attacking vampires, knocking the assailant to the ground. Spike twisted himself free of Buffy and returned her punch to the face. Buffy caught it full on and it staggered her slightly, but she was surprised to find that it hurt less than she would have imagined. Reenergized by this, Buffy swung into full force. All the helplessness of the past few days turned into rage. The others seemed equally angry, if less effective, in their fighting. Buffy darted from the action and broke a twig off a nearby tree. _Stake through the heart, right? I guess I'll find out_. After what she had already been through, Buffy thought nothing would take her by surprise, but she was wrong. With all her force, she stabbed the twig into the heart of one of the vampires. He turned to dust. Buffy paused momentarily in surprise and Spike took the opportunity to push her to the ground. Struggling, Buffy pushed herself over and knocked Spike on his back. She straddled him and held him to the ground with one hand around his throat.

"Okay, Spike. Here's the new plan. I hit you in the face until you tell us where to find this guy that took our memories. Then I go back to the library and get my weapons and I kill this Malkhan guy."

"Ummm…Buffy…can we reverse the order of those items?" Willow asked, her voice shaking. Buffy looked up at her friend. An orange light burst forth from the mouth of the cave and a cry went up from the demons inside. The Scoobies looked at each other with faces blank with despair. Spike looked up from the ground with a look that seemed equal parts awe and annoyance. There was no doubt. The ritual had come to pass. The demon Malkhan was in the 

world.


	13. Chapter 13

Buffy stood, not even bothering to keep a hold of Spike. Spike stood as well, brushing himself off and trying to look indignant, but managing to look no less rattled than the humans around him. Each was taking a mental inventory of their weaponry and coming up with the same dismal result. They had nothing. The weapons they would have brought were discarded in the disarray of the school library. Buffy wasn't sure that a twig and shear anger were going to be enough to get them through the next fight. What was equally clear, however, was that they didn't have time to go back to the library to retrieve the weapons.

"Okay, Spike. You want to save the world?" Buffy said. "Here's your chance. Do you have weapons nearby? Anything? Swords? Axes?" Buffy tried to wrack her mind for what else was in the library. "Crossbows?" Spike rolled his eyes and it looked for a moment like he was not going to help them. Spike was pondering how he ended up in this situation, aiding a group of teenage humans save the world from demons. At last he shrugged his shoulder.

"Yeah. I got a stash a little way from here. You lot stay here. I don't need you all knowing where everything is." Spike started to walk off, but Buffy caught his arm.

"Not a chance." Spike looked about to resist, but the look in her eye gave him pause. It was a look that tolerated no argument. _Nevermind_, Spike thought. It was easy enough to move the stash to another location. Besides, he couldn't care weapons enough for them all without help.

"Fine," he said. He started off again, this time with Buffy in tow. "You know I'm just doing this so I can eat you lot later."

"Whatever."

While the others stayed concealed near the cave entrance, Spike and Buffy made their way back through the woods toward one of Sunnydale's cemeteries. Spike led Buff y to one of the crypts and pushed the door open with the toe of his boot. The inside was dirty and the air smelled stale. Somehow the smell of putrefying flesh was comforting to Buffy. That thought was somehow more disturbing to Buffy than the fact that she was crawling around a graveyard in the dark with a vampire collecting medieval weapons to kill an army of demons intent on destroying the human race.

"Original." She commented.

"Don't get cheeky, Slayer." Spike said. "When this is over you and I are going to have a very different meeting." Early in the week that thought would have been almost paralyzing to Buffy, but now all of this was starting to seem normal to her. Spike lifted the top of a large crate. Buffy could see it contained a stash of weapons. Spike began handing Buffy weapons. She took a mental inventory of what they had and assigned each person a weapon. She picked out swords 

for Giles and Willow and an axe for Xander. She couldn't really imagine what Cordelia could use. Finally she decided on a sword. _There should be enough demons she can just swing and should be able to hit something_, Buffy thought somewhat morosely. For herself she chose a well-balanced shortsword. She tucked the twig she had broken off the tree earlier into the sleeve of her jacket. Spike grabbed a battle axe and a couple of smaller knives which he stuck in his belt. They balanced their arsenal as best as they could and ran.

When they returned to the spot near the cave, they found the group waiting in the shadows of the trees. "What took you so long?" Xander asked. Buffy showed him the weapons with a wry expression. Mentally, Xander smacked himself. "Right." He said.

"OK." Buffy said, "This is the plan. Spike and I go in first. You guys follow after." The Scoobies nodded, frightened, but committed.

"Then we start hitting things." Spike said with satisfaction. Buffy ignored him and handed out the weapons to the others. Only Giles seemed comfortable with his weapon. He swung the heavy sword deftly with his hand feeling the weight of it and the way it moved as an extension of his arm. Xander, Willow, and Cordelia all looked significantly less comfortable with their weapons. Yet, somehow they didn't look entirely unnatural. It was a feeling Buffy had become all too familiar with, the feeling that the abnormal was normal.

"Right," Spike said once everyone was armed. "Let the violence ensue."


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thanks very much to all who have been reading and reviewing. I know the chapters have been a long time coming. I really appreciate your patience and feedback!

Armed in the only way they could manage, the small group stood in the mouth of the cave, thoughts of charging in hanging dead in the air. Everyone was expecting a crowd, but the scene that greeted them from the mouth of the cave was something none of them could have imagined. From cave wall to cave wall, every inch was filled. Demons stood in more vastness than any of them had seen before. Demons of all kinds stood armed, ready for a war of extermination at the side of their savior. The demon savior Malkhan also did not escape the notice of the minimally armed crew. The demon was just as it had appeared to Buffy. If anything it seemed bigger now that they saw it standing fully flesh in front of them. The resolve that had pervaded the team earlier in the day seemed to evaporate now in the dark of the demon-infested night.

"Buffy, you'll never get through!" Willow cried.

"I know. I know." Buffy said. She looked around the cave at the image before them. "OK. Plan B."

"Did we have one of those?" Xander asked. In truth they didn't, but Buffy plunged ahead with the only option she saw left to them.

"OK. We'll sneak around the side and try to get as close as we can before we fight. Then Spike and I will…" Buffy stopped in horror as Spike began to shout.

"Hey! Demons! What? Just going to stand there? Got some tasty little niblets here for you." Buffy punched Spike in the face.

"Spike!" She hissed. "Shut up!" It was too late, the demon army turned towards the small party at the mouth of the cave and screamed.

It was a horrible sound, filled with hate and anger and passion. The demons surged forward with one purpose—to kill the intruders. Spike grinned.

"OK, Slayer." He said, "Showtime. You'll thank me for this later." Spike grabbed Buffy by the hand and began to pull her forward. "You know, except for the part where you'll be dead." They pushed through the demon throng, stopping to fight only when it was unavoidable. As plans go it was…_well, it was all they had_, Buffy thought. _So here we are back to the Buffy dies plan. Yippee!_

The others were feeling even less well about their future as they stood to face the onslaught with the weapons from Spike's crypt.

"Bad plan. Bad plan." Was all Xander could manage to articulate. He raised his axe and fought the urge to close his eyes.

"Guys!" Willow shrieked about the din. "We need to help Buffy."

"We're doing all we can for Buffy." Giles replied.

"No, I have an idea. " Willow said. "What if the blood didn't have to be from a willing sacrifice?" The others looked at her confused. "What if it could be from willing sacrifice_s_?" The group exchanged a look.

"It's better than standing here like demon bait." Cordelia said. The others had no argument.

"Right." Willow said. The small group charged forward into the oncoming mass. They pushed and hacked with a fury born of the desperate need to survive. Xander felt a warmth on his left arm and glanced over to see blood drenching his shirt from a deep gash in his rm. _Guess I'm getting a head start_, he thought. Then the pain set in and he cried out. Buffy fought to keep focus as she heard her friend cry out. If she stopped now, if she even slowed down for an instant, she would never make it to the pentagram. She had Spike were only a few feet from it now. So close. She couldn't waver now. Then something happened that made her stop dead in her tracks. The demons stopped their attack. They stood still as a deep, gravely, hissing voice echoed off the cavern walls.

"I am Malkhan!" It boomed. "I have come to rid this world of your filth and you shall not stop me. Kneel before me, human filth!" The air was thick with tension as the demon Malkhan raised to his full height before Buffy and Spike. The Scoobies froze in place along with demons, ready to spring back into action should the demons move, but afraid to make the first move, lest Malkhan strike at Buffy. Spike broke the silence.

"Um, yeah. Not a human here and not really into the whole kneeling thing, so I think I'll pass." He said.

"Silence, half-breed! You are less than demon and even less than human."

"Hey!" Spike said indignantly. "There's no need to be insulting." Buffy smirked in spite of the situation. Malkhan let out a roar that echoed off ever surface in the small cave.

"I tire of this." He said. "You, Slayer, shall be my first kill. You should be honored." He swiped a clawed hand at Buffy but she rolled out of the way and into the center of the pentagram.

"I don't think so." She said. With that she drew a knife from her belt and prepared to plunge it into her stomach.


	15. Chapter 15

"No! Wait!" Willow cried out and pushed her way towards her friend. The demons were still frozen with awe at the arrival of their savior and did not move to stop her. Willow slammed into Buffy's side, knocking her off balance. The blade in Buffy's hand slipped and sliced into her leg. Buffy cried out in surprise, more than pain, at her best friends sudden and violent appearance. Willow grabbed the blade from Buffy. The others, demons and humans alike, had regained their composure and were rushing forwards in a surge of flesh and weapons. Malkhan roared with anger and swiped a large, clawed hand at Buffy, sending her hurtling across the cave and thudding into the wall. Buffy slumped to the cave of the floor unable to move. Willow wanted to run to her and see if she was okay, but she held her ground. Taking the knife she had snatched from Buffy's hands, Willow slashed herself across her left arm, allowing the blood to gush out onto the stones of the pentagram. The demon Malkhan, satisfied with the Slayer's position for now, turned his attention to the new human menace disturbing his perfect palace of destruction.

Willow cowered. Her sudden burst of adrenaline spent, she had no more strength for bravery or foolish courage. Spike was nearby, but his attention was focused on the smaller demons. He could not save Willow even if he cared to. She had tried in every way she could, but now she resigned herself to her death. She had a brief and strange thought that her parents would have been proud of her for sacrificing herself for a cause. Malkhan opened his jaw wide and Willow looked into the gaping maw of the creature about to devour her. Suddenly, Malkhan cried out and whirled away from Willow. Unseen by the demon, Buffy had regained consciousness and had made her way around the back of Malkhan and plunged a sword deep into his tail. Malkhan's attention now again on Buffy, Willow scrambled from the pentagram and ran.

The other's had also not been idle. While Buffy and Willow scuffled in the pentagram, Giles, Xander, and Cordelia had fought their way through claws and fangs and swords towards the pentagram. Now, as they reached their goal, each swiped a blade across their own flesh and allowed their blood to mingle in a pool of visceral hope and longing. Malkhan began to waiver. His strength seemed sapped and Buffy no longer had to push herself to her limits to avoid him. The demon began to fade, like a projection, dimming away into nothingness.

"It's working!" Xander breathed, panting heavily from the pain of his open wounds.

At the sight of their savior fading away into the ether, the other resolve of the other demons began to similarly fade away and the scattered in all directions leaving the humans victorious, but exhausted. For a moment, no one spoke. The all collapsed to the floor, nursing their wounds and recovering from the shock of their unexpected survival. Only Spike seemed nonplussed by the situation. He dusted off his dark jeans and trench coat. He surveyed the crew of worn humans.

"Come on, Slayer." He said, "That all you got in you? One go 'round with a demon and the mighty Slayer's all spent? Come on, Love, how 'bout a little tussle, you and me?"

Almost in chorus from the Scoobies, came the tired response "Shut up, Spike." Spike laughed.

"Another time, Slayer." Spike turned dramatically to leave, his coat billowing out behind him. He stopped at the mouth of the cave and turned.

"Can someone help me carry the weapons back?"


	16. Chapter 16

The gang was tired and bedraggled, but their fight was not yet over. One final task remained. Track down the man who had taken their memories and squash him like the pathetic bug he was. Finding him was not difficult. Ethan Rayne had never cared much for secrecy or subtly and he had taken few pains to disguise his location. A brief conversation (if it could be called that) with Spike was all that was required to bring Giles and Buffy to the door of a dingy motel room on the outskirts of town.

"Classy joint," Buffy commented. Giles nodded, sharing her distaste for the rundown fleabag motel.

"Whoever this guy is, he must be a real winner." Buffy prepared herself to kick down the door. She turned to look at Giles.

"Shall we?" Buffy was just about to lift her leg off the ground when the door swung open and the came face-to-face with Ethan Rayne, suitcase in hand. Ethan, it seemed, had realized that at the defeat of his ingenious plan, the Slayer would inevitably come for him. In one of his rarer moments of clarity, Ethan had decided to leave town. He now stopped short, clutching his suitcase and smiling awkwardly. His eye darted back and forth like a caged animal searching for an escape. Giles looked at the man, his eyes strangely steely.

"Ethan Rayne." He said, "I might have known."

"Ripper." Ethan returned, "always a pleasure." The three of them stood in the door way of the motel room looking at each other, their bodies tense with adrenaline. Ethan passed a sideways glance in Buffy's direction.

"Miss Summers, so good to see you again," he said. Buffy did not share his sentiment. She gritted her teeth and made a concerted effort to keep her fist in check. When she spoke, she spoke very slowly.

"What did you do to us?" She asked. Ethan's fake smile returned.

"Who me?" He asked innocently."I'm just here for the view." It was Giles' turn now to restrain himself.

"Don't toy with me Ethan." His voice had a menacing edge to it that made Buffy momentarily drop her guard and turn to him. Ethan saw this as his chance to make a break for it. He darted to the left past Buffy. She recovered quickly and caught Ethan by the back of his shirt.

"Not so fast." She said as she pushed him up against the side of the building. Ethan made an audible moan at the impact. Giles moved forward, very close to Ethan, and spoke almost at a whisper.

"There are two things you need to do, Ethan. Fix what you have done and get out of here and never come back."

"Not to nit-pick, Ripper, but that really is three things." Giles drew his hand back and back-handed Ethan across the face. The brutality of the gesture startled Buffy and she caught Giles' arm.

"Come on, Giles." She said and pulled the older man back. She stepped in between the two men. She spoke to Ethan. "I won't stop him again if you don't fix this. In fact, I think I'll take a turn too." She drew her arm back. Ethan put up his hands in a pleading gesture, his suitcase falling to the ground.

"No. No." He said hurriedly, "I'll fix it."

A few simple words from Ethan were all it took. Buffy's memories flooded back to her. Her Slayer knowledge filled her mind and she felt a surge of energy through her body. The change was less dramatic for the others, but their memories too were restored. All felt right again in the world. At least until the next crisis. Back at the library, the Scoobies reconvened. The exhaustion of the day's events had faded slightly and the pleasant chatter of teenagers filled the room.

"Well guys," Buffy said, "we saved the world. There's only one thing we can do now." The others looked at her expectantly. "Shoes and chocolate." She finished.

THE END


End file.
